Fire-extinguisher



(o Model) H. E. SAFFORD.

FIRE BXTI'NGUISHER.

Patented 0013.28, 1890.

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v/Ar/ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HARRY E. SAFFORD, .OF ALLEGI-IENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

FIRE-EXTlNGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of-Iietters Patent No. 439,565, dated October 28, 1890.

Application filed June 4, 1890l Serial No. 354,205. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concern,.-

, Beit known that I, HARRY E. SAFFORD, a resident of Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Extinguishers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to fire-extinguishers, and more especially to that class of extinguishers in whichA the iiuid is contained within a suitable reservoir and is expelled therefrom, when needed, by compressed air confined within said reservoir, or by a pump should the volume of compressed air fail. This style of nre-extinguisher is well adapted for use in hotels or large public buildings, where such apparatus may be brought into service on a moments notice. Hence the necessity of its always being in perfect working order. The most prevalent defect, perhaps, encountered in the use of this form of extinguisher is due to the uncertainty of being able to unseat the valve at the lower `end of the punip'to allow the iiuid within the reservoir to ascend the pump and be discharged at the outlet thereof. This dificulty of unseating the valve is attributed to the action of the iiuid,which, being in contact with said valve, corrodes the metal and causes the valve to adhere to its seat, for the extinguisher may remain idle for a year or more,

during which time there is ample opportunity for this corrosive action to take place.

The object of my invention, therefore, is to remove this objection; and it consists, generally stated, in a reservoir or tank having a Vpump attached thereto, the piston of said pump being adapted to engage with the lower vvalve of the pump and turnvthe same on its seat, so that upon turning the piston slightly .the said lower valve will be unseated and allowed to riseas the piston ascends within the pump-cylinder. i

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe the same vmore fully, referringto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of my improved apparatus, Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the piston about to engage with the lower valve. Fig. 3 is a like view showing the manner of engagement. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail top view of the lower valve. Fig. 5 is a modification thereof. Fig. 6 is a view showing the locking device out of engagement.

Like letters indicate like parts.

The iiuid reservoir or tank ct may be of any convenient size or shape, and is constructed of copper or other suitablel metal. An opening a is formed in the head of the reservoir a, and within said opening is inserted the casing h, said casing to extend within the reservoir a to a point below the fluid-line, and is constructed of any suitable metal.

To secure the casingh within the reservoir a, I first solder or otherwise securely attach the upper end of the casing b to the ring or collar h', said ring or collar exactly tting within the opening a. and soldered thereto to form a very rigid connection, and to furlther strengthen this connection I seal the space around the inner face of saidring b with the lead, as at b2. This serves to render the connection of the casing with the reservoir practically air-tight, the importance of which will more fully hereinafter' appear. Any other manner of securing the casing b which will produce a like result may, however, be employed. Supported by the casing l?, and fitting close to the ring b', is the interiorly-threaded collar c, with which the cylinder d of the pump D is adapted to engage.

The general construction of the pump Dis similar to any of the well-known forms of hand-pumps, said pump having the pumpcylinder cl, the airchamber d', and the outletport d2, having the hose-connection d3. A piston-rod e, having the handle e thereon, passes down through a suitable stuffing box f, through the air-chamber d into the cylinder d, and has secured thereto the piston e2. The piston e2 is hollow, having the passage e3, through which the fluid passes during the downstroke, said piston being provided with the ordinary valve g, resting in the valveseat g at the upper end of the passage e3, said valve rising as the hollow piston e2 descends, and seating itself again when said piston rises. The openings g2, formed in the pistonrod c, justbeyond the piston e2, permits the rising fluid to escape to the cylinder of the pump. The piston e2 has the teeth or IOO projection 7L formed on the lower end thereof, said teeth being adapted to engage with the interdental spaces fi', formed by the serrated face /i on the upper face of the valve y, so forming a clutch-eonnection with said valve. The valve j is seated in the valveseat j in the extension k of the cylinder cl, and said valvej must ascend when the hollow piston e2 ascends before the fluid in the supply-reservoir can escape to the pump-cylinder to be discharged through the outletport d2. It is this valve.;l which, through the corrosive action of the iiuid adheres tightly to the valve-seat j', and it is very apparent that unless said valve is unseated on first raising the hollow piston e2, the next movement of said piston being downward,will only serve to increase the power of resistance of said valve .7' to the volume of water belowit. Any other suitable form of clutch may be employed to bring about this engagement of the piston e2 with. the valve ,7, a modiled form being shown in Fig. 5. The advantages of vthe clutching device shown and described,

however, lie in the fact that whatever be the position of the teeth 71. relative to the interdental` spaces i of the serrated face 'i upon the descent of the piston. e?, and` although the said teeth 7L may not exactly coincide with said spaces i', yet upon the further descent of said pistonV the edges of the teeth 7L are sure to strike the inclined faces of the teeth of the serrated face 1f, and descending thereon will finally iit within the spaces 1l. A very sure manner of guiding the teeth 7L into engagement with the spaces i is thus afforded. A slight turn of the piston-rod e when such connection between the piston e2 and the valve ,7' is made will suffice to unseat said valve to allow the water to rise through it to the pumpcylinder. To provide for this turning of the piston-rod e, said piston-rod is furnished with the cross-pin Z at a point just beyond the stufii1ig-boxf,.wl1ile said stufiingbox is formed with the inclined slot m therein, so that by forcing down the piston-rod e, and at the same time turning it slightly, the cross-pin Zmay be brought to a position where upon forcing said piston-rod down a little farther the cross-pin l is brought to engage with the inclined slot m. In this way the teeth 7L ofthe piston e2 are brought to engage with the teeth of the serrated face z' of the valve j, and thushold the valve toits seat. Instead of a cross-bar and inclined slot, any suitably-threaded or similarly-formed connection may be employed to foreethe piston against the valve j and hold it in place, which will permit the piston to turn when opened and so through the clutch to turn the valve. A second opening a is formed in the top of the supply-reservoir a for the introduction of the air or fluid7 and within said opening is secured the tube o, extending below the Huid-line. A check-valve p is encased within the valve-chamber e2 at the upper end of the tube o, said valve p having the spring p interposed between the head of said valve and the shoulder 0 of the valvechamber o2 to hold said valve normally in its seat. To further secure the opening n against leakage, it is provided with the cap q, having a small vent q', which acts to admit air when the pu'mp is used to discharge the fluid by unscrewin g said cap to bring' the said air-inlet beyond the top of the easing o.

The operation of my improved extinguisher is as follows: `The tank a is first charged with the iiuid until said fluid reaches the {luidline or a point above the ends of the easing b and of the tube m. An air-pump is adjusted to the opening u, the cap q having been removed, and air is pumped into said opening, forcing down the check-valve p and allowing the air to pass down through the tube o and up through the iiuid tothe space above the Huid-line. Then the required pressure of air within the reservoir has been obtained, the airpump is removedavhen the check-valve p will resume its seat to prevent the escape of the iiuid, and the cap q is adj usted to place. It will be observed that by extending the easing b and the tube o to a point below the fluidline that there is no possibility of the air confined in the space above the iiuid escaping through the jointsat theopenings a and n, as it would have to passfdown through the iiuid and up the said casin g b and tube 0; but these are also filled with fluid, so that any connections made with the reservoir are iiuid`-jointsthat is, joints to prevent the escape of iiuid, and not to prevent the escape of the aiiywhich it is practically impossible to do. The piston.- rod e is broughtto the position shown in Fig. l by being forced down and turned until the cross-pin l isin position to enter the slot m in the smiling-box f, and on turning the said pistou-rod c the pin Z travels down the in clined slot m and so forces the teeth 7L at the base of said piston-rod into engagement with the serrated face t' of the valve j. The eXd tinguisher is now read y for use at anymoment, and if it lies idle for some time the fluid cor= redes the valve so that it adheres tightly to its seat. If, now,.it is desired to use the extin-A guisher, the piston-rod ebeinginy the position shown in Fig. l, the said piston-rod is-given a quick turn by means of the handle to bring the crosspin Z to the entrance of the inclined slot m, when the piston-rod e may assume its normal position. Thisturning of the pistonrod c, with the teeth 7L in engagement with the serrated face t'. of the valve j, will cause said valve to turn in its seat and so free said valve from the binding action caused by the corrosion of the fluid and permit the compressed air above the iiuidline to force the iiuid up through the valve j to the tube d, and thence to the outlet-port cl2. The pump D is always in readiness to be employed in ease the pressure of the air within the reservoir is not sufficient to discharge the fluid with force enough to carry it the distance desired. In case the pump D is used the cap qmust be unscrewed until the vent q is beyond the top ot' the cas- IOO ing 0, when the said pump may be operated in the ordinary way by means of the handle e.

In my improved extinguisher the pump may be dispensed with enti-rely by employing simply a tube with a valve therein and a rod engaging with said valve and adapted to hold the valve and turn it in its seat, the oompressed air serving to force the liquid to the discharge-port.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a nre-extinguisher, the combination of a tank having a valve in the escape-tube thereof, a valve-controlling rod, and means Where-` by the rod is locked to hold the valve upon its seat and released to open the valve, said rod being connected with the valve by a clutcheonnection, whereby upon operating the rod to release the valve the latter will be moved upon its seat, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a nre-extinguisher, the combination of a tank having a valve in the escape-tube therei of, a controlling-rod, and means whereby the rod is looked to hold the valve upon its seat and released to open the valve, said rod having a clutch-connection with the valve, whereby upon operating the rod to release the valve the latter is turned upon its seat, as and for the purpose described.

3. In a fire-extinguisher, the combination of a tank having a valve in the escape-tube thereof, a controlling-rod, and means whereby the rod is looked to hold the valve upon its seat and released to open the valve, said rod having V-shaped teeth thereon engaging with similarly-shaped spaces formed on the valve, whereby upon operating the rod to release the valve the latter is turned upon its seat, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. 4o

In testimony whereof I, the said HARRY E. SAFFORD, have hereunto set my hand.

HARRY E. SAFFORD. Witnesses:

Roer. D. TorTEN, J. N. COOKE. 

